Chase Logs 2008
Tempting Fate: The Coon Rapids/Hugo Tornado
May 25, 2008
3:00pm-7:00pm
Northwestern Twin Cities Metro Area, MNDash Cam Video of the Supercell Chase 4:00pm-5:30pm
In the months following the Northwood, ND storm, I reanalyzed my chasing strategy and decided that the next time I had the chance to go for a tornado, I would take it. I didn't realize the opportunity would arise so quickly. The chase day actually began on Saturday, May 24, when a line of potent looking thunderstorms rolled across the metro area. I watched the cells explode during sunset from the eastern shore of White Bear Lake (photos below), where I was staying for the weekend. But by the time they reached me shortly before 11pm, they amounted to little more than some rolls of thunder and brief heavy rain. This cell line, however, was my first convective storm intercept of the 2008 storm season. But it was only the beginning.
A muggy and warm night ensued, and I woke up the next morning to a moderate severe weather risk for eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The trigger for these storms would be a strong frontal system that had left a trail of tornadic destruction stretching back to Colorado. By mid morning this front was positioned along a SW to NE line from Sioux Falls, SD to International Falls, MN. A lone cell cluster fired off along this boundary in southwestern MN and flew northeastward into northwestern Wisconsin by noon, dumping 2 inch hail in St. Cloud along its way. The weather in the Twin Cities remained cloudy and muggy throughout the morning, and shortly after 11:30am I left for Anoka to pack for my summer internship in Duluth and to track any further storm development.
The SPC issued a PDS tornado watch for southeastern MN at 2:00pm, and by 2:30pm a line of storms had developed between Willmar and Litchfield. I continued to monitor the storms for the next hour as they matured to severe status (3:00pm) and moved northeastward into NW Wright County. The KMPX radar began detecting a mesocyclone in the storm cell at 3:30pm and within minutes a hook branched out from the southwestern corner of the storm. Even though the NWS wasn't issuing a tornado warning, I decided to head out for an intercept at 3:40pm (a tornado warning was finally issued at 3:49pm). My chase target would be Maple Lake and points south, but within minutes of departing I received a call from Andrea informing me that the storm had hooked right and was heading right for Anoka. I quickly replotted my route and decided to make the turn south at Elk River, rather than Big Lake. I cruised through Elk River at 4:00pm and turned south for Otsego and St. Michael. Below are photos taken on my way to Elk River of the storm's base and anvil.
In addition to turning right, the storm also picked up speed. This did not bode well for my chase plan. As I headed west in Otsego (looking for a turn south) I ran straight into the hail core. Thankfully I turned around quickly and bolted out before the hail exceeded the size of quarters. I received a call as I exited the shaft from a friend who lived a few miles to the WSW of my location, who reported 2 inch hail at her location. The storm ended up pummeling Otsego with 2 inch hail as well just moments after I departed. Monticello, a few miles to the NW, reported 3.5 inch hail. I quickly got on HW 101 and worked my way southward towards Rogers, all the while watching an ominous lowering in the clouds to my SW, in the area where the mesocyclone would have been located.
KMPX Radar Data of the Supercell at 4:00pm, 4:04pm, 4:08pm, 4:11pm, and 4:17pm CDT
But the storm's rapid motion, combined with heavy traffic in Rogers, put me directly under the mesocyclone as I raced southward towards Corcoran. I passed under the low hanging mesocyclone just south of Fletcher at 4:22pm, where I was battered by westerly winds that gusted around 60mph (by my best estimate). The hair raising ordeal lasted for only a few minutes, and by 4:30pm I was safely south of the storm, but now had to play catch-up. Below are photos taken in Corcoran and Maple Grove of the low, disorganized mesocyclone just after I passed underneath it.
KMPX Radar Data of the Supercell at 4:21pm, 4:25pm, 4:30pm, 4:34pm, and 4:39pm CDT
I headed east on 95th Ave. North through Maple Grove and into Osseo, all the while watching the storm move farther away. Stupid traffic lights. Chasing in the cities can be a nightmare, and a pain. I got a call from both Dan and Andrea warning me of a tornado in Coon Rapids, and I plotted a plan to head down HW 610 and intercept the tornado on HW 65 in Blaine. As I got on HW 610 in Osseo, I briefly saw the wall cloud over the treeline (first video still below), but as I drove eastward the cloud became obscured by trees and the highway's sound wall. By the time I turned northward and crossed the Mississippi River into Coon Rapids, the meso had become rain wrapped. I exited onto HW 65 in Blaine and worked northward (second, third and fourth photos below), but the storm was working into Washington County, and I decided to break off the chase. All I got to enjoy was the outflow boundary from the storm (last photo below), which produced gusty northerly winds that I had to battle while I drove. I did cross the tornado's damage path on HW 65 and 109th Ave. shortly before 5:00pm, but I didn't notice much besides a few downed branches and some small pieces of debris on the road. Below are photos of the rain wrapped meso from HW 610 and HW 65.
KMPX Radar Data of the Supercell at 4:42pm, 4:47pm, 4:41pm, 4:55pm, and 5:03pm CDT
Seeing that a second storm was coming in fast on the heels of the first, I worked back down to HW 610 and drove west, straight into the storm (photos below). After a couple of missed turns I ended up stopping under several overpasses in Brooklyn Park to wait out the heavy rain and hail. Following the second storm I headed for home to scope out the damage. My house, fortunately, went through the storm with little to no damage. Even the weather station faired well against the 1.5-2 inch hail that, according to my mom, fell for a quite awhile. As I got back online and read through the storm's damage reports from Coon Rapids and Hugo, I realized that the Coon Rapids tornado had touched down just 2 miles south of my house in Anoka, while the deadly Hugo tornado missed my dad's house in White Bear Township by three miles. Just incredible.
Chase Route
Despite not seeing a tornado, I thought that the chase went very well considering all that went wrong. Not only did I underestimate the motion of the storm, but several pieces of equipment, including the weather radio, failed to work during the chase. The sudden changes to the chase route forced me onto unfamiliar roads, and thus I drove with a map in my lap most of the time. Not smart--I might want to have a navigator next time. Plus chasing in the cities sucks, hands down. Thank God for my friends who relayed the storm data to me while I was out in the field. Hopefully, I can get all of these problems fixed before the next big one strikes.
